Improvement in automatic relief-valves



UN-rrEDZSTATEs PATENT OFFICE:

ALBERT E'. ALLEN", on PROVIDENCE', RHODE rISLAND.

IMPROVEM ENT INv AUTOMA-LI'IC RELIEF-VALVES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 113,829, dated April18,1871.

.To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I., ALBERT F. ALLEN, of the city and county ofProvidence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a cer.

tain new and useful Automatic Relief-Valve for Fire-Engines,Force-Pumps, Hydrants, Ste.

My invention consists in part of combining a relief-valve with ahydraulic lever, or its equivalent, in such a manner that, first, thereliefvalve will be kept closed by the current of water as it flows,under pressure, acting upon the lever and, second, the relief-valve willbe free to open instantaneously, if, while the pressure continues, thecurrent Vof water should, from any cause, be checked or suspended.

My invention further consists in combining with such an apparatus asignal-bell, by means of which a system ofcommunication may beestablished between the hoseman at the end of aline of hose and theengineer or person in charge of the fire-engine,pump,or hydrant; and Ido hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connectionwith the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear,Atrue, and exact description thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 represents my automatic relief-valvein perspective. Fig. 2 represents the same in longitudinal verticalsection with the relief-valve closed. Fig. 3 represents the same withthe relief-valve open.

A4 represents the main chamber of the reliefvalve. It is connected atthe opening a with the base of the air-chamber of a pump or with ahydrant. I. ll water forced from the pump or hydrant under pressurepasses through this chamber in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2. Thehose or pipes for conveying the water under pressure are connected tothe main chamber at b.

Bis the auxiliary chamber of the relief-valve. It communicates with theinterior ofthe main chamber, and also with the suction-chamber of apump, or the barrel of ahydrant, through suitable pipes connected at theopening B2. If connected to the suction-chamber of a pump, atight-valve, B3, must be interposed between, in order that theconnection may be perfectly cut oft' during the drawing of water whenthe operation of pumping is commenced. Once in operation, the valveshould then be opened.

Gis the relief-valve proper. In this instance it consists of a plainpiston-valve with a common ground seat: It will be observed that it isinterposed between the main and auxiliary chambers. When the valve, as awhole, is connected with the source of supply, under pressure, it willbe observed, if the valve be opened, that a direct communication takesplace between the main and auxiliary chambers and the several parts ofthe pump ,Y or hydrant to which the openings a and B2 are c'nnected.

D is the valve-rod of the relief-valve. It passes upward through thedome of the auxiliary chamber B, and is provided with a suita blestuffing-box.

E is a pronged standard, mounted upon the dome of the auxiliary chamber.

F is a lever, pivoted to the top of the standard E. Its fulcrum in thisinstance is fixed at one-third of its whole length from one of itsends.` The short end of this lever is connected with the upper end ofthe valve-rod D by means of a short rod, f.

G is a hydraulic lever. It is keyed at its upper end to a shaft, e,which passes through the upper part of an enlarged portion of the mainchamber, and at right angles thereto. This shaft e is provided withsuitable stuffingboXes, which, while they should permit of a freesemi-rotary movement of the shaft, should also be sufficiently well setto prevent the passage of water along the shaft. On each end of thisshaft e are the arms g, set thereon at right angles to the lever G. Itwill be observed that the arms g, shaft e, and lever G constitute, as awhole, one lever, with the ful= crum at the bearings of the shaft e. His a forked connecting rod. The two lower or forked ends are pivoted tothe outer ends of the two arms g of the shaft e. The upper end of thisrod is pivoted to the long end of the lever F. For the purpose oflengthenin g or shortening the rod H, when desired, it is constructed intwo parts, which are connected by a hollow sleeve provided with a rightand left hand screw, and arranged in a manner well known to personsskilled in the art.

I is a latch-lever, secured to one end of the shaft e, at an angleoblique to the line of the armsg. In the 'free end of this lever is aspring-latch, i, of ordinary construction.

Attached to the exterior of the main chamber is a gong or bell, K,provided with a spring-hammer mounted upon a pivot at. or nearthe hub.of the bell in a well-known man- The handle of the spring-hammer,designated in the drawing as m, is so `set with relaat every completevibration. kIt will also be observed that the bell is sounded at everyTreciprocating vertical movement of the valverod D, and that in operationit is the opening of the valve which causes the bell to sound.

its operation.

described, to the pump and suction-chamber,

respectively; also., hose is attached to the, opening1 b in a line of,say, rive hundred feet, upon starting the engine, if it is to draw pumpis being charged. As soon as water is wide.

in Fig. 2, the force of the current will cause the hydraulic lever G toswing with the current, thereby elevating the connecting-rod H 'I andthe long end of the lever F, which in turn depresses the valve-rod D,and holds the reliefvalve closely to its seat.

light lateral force expended upon the hydraulic lever G results in alargely-multiplied ver- I tical force or pressure upon the valve-seat.yAssuming that the engine was discharging water at the hose-pipe, andthat a necessity therefor no longer existed, that the hose-pipe or hoseadjacent thereto was provided with a stop-valve which was arranged tocut off the water instead of discharging it through the. hose or pipe,and that the hose-man should. cut off the water; as soon as the currentof v water ceased to ilow in the main chamber A no force would beexerted upon the hydraulic lever G. The expansive force of the water inthe chamber, which hadmeantimebeen directed against the relief-valveproper, would then be free to open it, allowing `the water to pass fromthe main chamber, through the valve, back to the suction-chamber of thepump, and thus circulate without injury to pump or hose.

The capacity of the relief-valve should be somewhat greater. than the.delivery capacity of the several hose-pipes to be employed. Wheneverthe opening ofthe relief-valve thus occurs the bell is sounded, givingthe engineer .in charge correct knowledge of what has been done at theend of the line of hose. Whenever .the stop-valve in the hose or at thehosepipe is opened and the discharge of water resumed, the current` actsupon the lever G and promptly closes the relief-valve. By a prearrangedsystem of bell-signals the hose man may communicate with the engineer,and call for more water or less, as may be desired, or

- for personal assistance in cases where the hose men have enteredburnlng buildings at a dis-V tance from the engine. y

- A practical test of my automatic relief-valve 1 disclosed the factthat there was actually less pressure on the hose immediately after.cutting Having thus described the several parts of my automaticrelief-valve, l will now explain For the purpose of illustration it isto be presumed that the apparatus is atltached to a steam lire-engine.`The openings i a and Bz having been connected, as already:

off the water than before, whilel the water was being regularlydischarged through the hosepipe. This is 'owing partly to the fact thatthere is a greater capacity for discharging by the way of therelief-valve than by the hose pipe, and partly to the fact that thelever G is in no way aiected by the force of compressed water, but byits momentum only.

lf during the operation of the lire-engine v any weight should be placedon the hose, as is its water by suction, it will be necessary to ifinstanced byrunning over it with another enclose the valve B3 in orderto prevent any inj duction of air from the relief-valve while the gineor hose-cart, there exists no danger of its bursting, as therelief-valve opens instantaneously with the checking of the current ofwater in its passage through the main chamber, and is immediatelyclosedwhen the llowing is resumed. d'

Relief-valves as heretofore constructed have been controlled by pressureonly, thereby ne.- cessitating the use of latches, springs, and weights.My automatic relief-valve differs from all heretofore known in theapplication j 'of current-power, or the momentum of water g' flowingunder pressure, for keeping thereliei'- It is to be observed that thesystem of lei verage shown and described is such that af valve closedduring the continuance .of the flow, and permitting it to open bypressure when the flowing ceases.

Having thus described my invention, I .claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. rlhe combination of a hydraulic lever and arelief-valve, when the two are so connected and arranged that a currentof water flowing under pressure, by acting upon the lever, will hold therelief-valve to its seat, substantially as described. A

2. The combination of the relief-valve and signal-bell, the two being soconnected and arranged that the opening or closing of the valve willcause-the bell to sound, as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination of the hydraulic lever G and signal-bell7substantially as described, the two being so connected and arranged thatthe bell will be sounded by the vibration of the lever when moved by theforce of a current of Water, as and for the purposes specified.

4. In combination with the auxiliary chamber of an automaticrelief-valve, the valve B3,

set between it and the suction-chamber of the pump, for the purpose ofpreventing the induction of air by the Way of the relief-valve While thepump is being charged, substantially as described.

ALBERT F. ALLEN.

Witnesses: p

WM. C. Woon,

PHIL. F. LARNER.

